As there are prospects of India going to war against our rogue western neighbor, it is important to analyze the defense capabilities of both countries. India is miles ahead of Pakistan as per the analysis of the majority of defense experts. The defence budget of India is 58 billion dollars against 11 billion dollars of Pakistan. The defence budget of India is more than the total budget of Pakistan (around 50 billion dollars) and five times more than its defence budget. India has missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads up to 5,000 km (Agni-3) while the Pakistani missiles’ capability is just 2,000 km (Shaheen-2).
As per the Global Firepower Index, India’s military is the fourth strongest in the world after US, Russia and China. While Pakistan ranks seventeenth in the list. Pakistan managed to break in the top fifteen only in 2017 while India has been in the top five since long. Major European military powers such as France, the UK, and Germany trail India while Japan also ranks below India in terms of defense capabilities.
India has 12 lakh strong Army 3,565 battle tanks, 3,100 infantry fighting vehicles, 336 armored personnel carriers and 9,719 pieces of artillery, as per International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS). Pakistan, on the other hand, has only 560,000 troops backed by 2,496 tanks, 1,605 armored personnel carriers, and 4,472 artillery guns, including 375 self-propelled howitzers, according to IISS. Pakistan Air Force and Navy have no match against the Indian side as Indian Air Force and Indian Navy are considered among the best in the world. Therefore, Pakistan could not be compared to India in terms of armed forces superiority.
The Indian Air Force, which has shown tremendous capability in attack on terror camp in Pakistan, is also way ahead of Pakistani Air Force. The IAF has 1, 27,000 lakh personals and 814 combat aircraft. On the other hand, Pakistan has only 425 fighter aircrafts including F-7PG and F-16 given by China and US respectively. “The (Pakistan) air force is modernizing its inventory while improving its precision-strike and ISR (intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance) capabilities,” said IISS in its assessment of Pakistan’s armed capabilities.
Pakistan has a small coastline compared to India and Pakistani Navy is very weak. Indian Navy consists 16 submarines including 1 nuclear-powered attack submarine, 1 aircraft carrier, 1 amphibious transport. In addition to that the country has 14 destroyers, 13 frigates, 106 patrol and coastal combatant vessels, and 75 combat capable aircraft. On the other hand Pakistani Navy has just 9 frigates, 8 submarines, 17 patrol and coastal vessels, and 8 combat capable aircraft.
Therefore, as per the comparison Pakistan will not survive even for a week in case of any ‘non-nuclear war’. In terms of nuclear capabilities both countries have almost similar number of nuclear warheads. But India is in the league of ‘nuclear triad’ which means that the country is capable of launching military attack through aircraft, missile and submarine. US, Russia and China are the only other countries in the elite league of ‘nuclear triad’. Pakistan can launch nuclear warheads only through missile which has a range almost half to that of India. So, war is way road where Pakistan is set only ‘lose’.
